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Article published In: Translation and Interpreting Studies
Vol. 11:2 (2016) ► pp.131–151

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On the noises and rhythms of translation

Published online: 4 August 2016
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.11.2.01vid
In the global society of the twenty-first century, language plays a fundamental role that is neither neutral nor innocent. The meaning of every word is never pure, but it is charged with many different noises and rhythms according to the culture in which they originate. As a result, the most important and also the most difficult and compromising function of translators, from an ethical viewpoint, is not translating meaning, but translating those noises and rhythms implicit in texts. That is why I believe we have to rethink the concept of translation from a new point of view. What I propose in this article is an interdisciplinary approach, derived from music and philosophy, and specifically from Michel Serres’ and Jacques Attali’s concept of noise, John Cage’s concept of silence and Henri Lefebvre’s concept of rhythmanalysis, that will allow us, as translators, to become more aware of the ideologies that filter in through the noises and rhythms of words. This article will examine examples of these ideas found in literary texts.
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